Rochas, Other SE Governors challenged

… As Lagos House Passes compulsory Yoruba Language Bill

Imo Governor Owelle Rochas  Okorocha  and other governors in the South East have been  challenged  to learn from the deft moves being made by Lagos Governor  Akinwunmi  Ambode and his legislators to make Yoruba Languauge compulsory in all public and private schools in Lagos State, in demonstration of Yoruba nationalism.

Giving the advise in Abuja at the weekend, a  National Assembly aspirant from  Anambra State, Chief Chris Egumgbe, in a chat with our Abuja correspondent who spoke to him and the Abuja airport, accused South East  governors and political leaders of not doing enough to appreciate that their people at home are endangered in the country and that it is in their interest to start evolving policies and laws that will assist the region develop in all facets of life, including their indigenous language now heading towards extinction.

Chief Egumgbe was reacting to news  that last week  the Lagos House of Assembly  passed a bill to make the teaching, learning and speaking of Yoruba language compulsory in all schools in Lagos state, and placing a fine of N500,000 and possible closure on any school that fails to comply.

 According to him, the compulsory Yoruba language bill can be replicated in Igboland so that  Yoruba and Hausa people living and schooling in the South East will mandatorily learn  the Igbo language and thereby understand and appreciate the owners of the language better, and for the greater benefit of unity in Nigeria. He  opined that the Lagos legislators may have passed the bill without caring about what the federal and other state governments would think, thereby demonstrating that they are motivated first and foremost by the interest and future of the Yoruba nation, also  wondering if Igbo governors and legislators can ever think the way the Lagos politicians have thought. 

Hear him: “Our governors and legislators in the South East do not think of the future of Igbo people. They think Nigeria before Igbo, just like Nnamdi Azikiwe did in those days without any benefit to Igboland. Igbos believe in One Nigeria while other tribal groups do not do the same.  Igbos  want to build Nigeria first before coming home to build Igboland, and that is why the rest of the country mock Igbos and toy with them without stopping”. 

“Have you seen how  government and legislators in Lagos are thinking of the future of their people?  Our language must be strengthened first  because it sympolizes our oneness as a people in a multi-ethnic country. We can start from the schools as many have advocated.  Lagos state  will defend their  new

law, and only Nigerians who do not appreciate the need for such law will complain about it. They good news is that they even consulted private school properitors before finalizing the bill. And I guess that nobody can interfere in the Lagos law, in much the same way as nobody interefered when Zamfara State introduced Sharia Law years back. Zamfara justified their law at the time, explaining it was to promote Islam.  This time, it is the language of a people being protected from going extinct, and the action is justifiable.”

“There is nothing wrong making Yoruba language compulsory in Lagos schools. The reason is that you cannot  come to somebody’s land and refuse to understand them and their culture as represented first and foremost by their language.  You must like your host community, and when you do not like them, you have no need going there to live or school with them:.

“Yoruba sence of true nationalism in our diversity in Nigeria is very logical and I accept it. You cannot go to Greece  for schooling without learning their language. It is a good way of protecting the peoples anguage from extinction.”

“Back to the East, Northerners come and go without caring about Igbo language. That is why they never understand Igbos.  They cannot spare an inch to learn or speak Igbo language. To them, it is  a taboo, stooping low to learn the Igbo language. That is why they hate has continued no matter what Igbos do to please and  integrate with them.  Hausas and Yorubas do not come to the East to  invest or build houses  because of language problems, but that should not contoinue if we want oneness and unity in Nigeria. When you like a people and believe you have a common future tomorrow than  you  will first learn their language so that you will  get first hand information of their culture embedded in their language.”

“Igbo people live freely  in the North and will hardly desire to relocate back home because they acculturate. Igbo people demonstrate their love for the North by learning and assimilating their language, and  then they use their new knowledge to naturalize there. That is the secret. If a new law comes into place to force Hausas and Yorubas to learn Igbo language while schooling in the South East, then the journey to unity and oneness in Nigeria has started from that angle. Once the Federal Government cannot back such law, then we should know they do not approve of real integration of Nigerian peoples”.

“I doff my hat for the Lagos State Government and its legislators for the Yoruba language bill. Governor Okorocha  and other governors should study this Yoruba tactics and do more. Igbo language should be made compulsory for all schools in the South East to strengthen the language and compel other tribal groups to learn the language. That is my view”.

 The Lagos bill titled: “A Bill for a Law To Provide for the Preservation and Promotion of the Use of Yoruba Language and for Connected Purposes’, and  seeks to make Yoruba language a core subject in public and private schools, including higher institutions where Yoruba language will now mandatorily form part of their General Studies curriculum of every higher institution in the state .

Speaking to newsmen on the bill, according to a report from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) the Chairman of the House Committee on Education, Mr Lanre Ogunyemi, last Thursday said the bill recommends the translation of all the laws in the state into Yoruba language in order to get to its target.

Some of the provisions can be highlighted here:

 “The use of Yoruba Language shall be an acceptable means of communication between
individuals, establishment, corporate entities and government in the state if so desired by the
concerned.

“Any school that fails to comply with the provisions of Section 2 of the law commits an offence and is
liable on first violation to issuance of warning and on subsequent violation be closed down and also pay a fine of N500, 000.”

He explained that the Lagos House is passionate about Yoruba Language which necessitated its adoption for parliamentary debate last Thursdays.

“The National Policy on Education provides that the language of an environment should be spoken in
schools, which is why Yoruba Language is being adopted for Lagos schools.